Kieron Dyer can`t wait...

[Scottish Mag 3]

Graeme Souness is relishing unleashing a new and improved Kieron Dyer this weekend after insisting a thorough new training regime will leave the midfielder equipped to terrorise top-flight defenders for the duration of the new campaign.

 

Given the parlous condition of Newcastle's depleted strikeforce, a major responsibility rests with the 26-year-old but, having ended United's pre-season programme in sparkling form, Dyer looks determined to make an impact when the Magpies open their domestic challenge at Arsenal tomorrow.

 

With next summer's World Cup finals on the horizon, a player who remains a peripheral part of the England squad should need no additional motivation as he attempts to vindicate the award of a lucrative new four-year deal, signed last night, at St James's Park.

 

And having told Dyer that he needs to improve his goalscoring output, Souness is confident an individually-tailored exercise p rogramme will ensure that the midfielder's efforts are not hampered by the kind of injuries which have blighted his career.

 

"I like to see him in the final third, turning and going at defenders, running with the ball," said a manager who will head to Highbury this weekend with Alan Shearer as his only specialist striker.

 

"I think that he causes terror in opponents. Think back to the end of last season: if Kieron had stayed on the pitch at Sporting Lisbon we would have got to the Uefa Cup semi-final.

 

"He needs a bit of luck (with his fitness) because he plays in bursts. He is a Michael Owen, a Ryan Giggs, and it (the threat of hamstring problems) is always a danger with those kind of players.

 

"But I think we have got to the bottom of it."

 

Dyer's career has been blighted by hamstring trouble but United's medical staff hope a new exercise regime will enable the midfielder to turn potential into performances for a full season this time around.

 

"I'm told that his hamstrings are now up there with the strongest at the club," said Souness, for whom Dyer's displays could hold the key to his troubled attempts to engineer a successful campaign.

 

"He will have to keep doing these exercises for the remainder of his career.

 

"We have had a look at how Kieron trains and I think part of the problem is that he hasn't always trained as he would play a game.

 

"When it comes to matchdays, he has been moving up an extra gear. But it wasn't always a gear he would find during training sessions.

 

"He was not quite getting up into overdrive on the training ground but, in a match situation, he was asking his body to do it.

 

"We have talked about that and suggested that he has got to really hammer it on the training ground for two or three days a week if he is to steer clear of further injuries."

 

Dyer gave a demonstration of the electrifying pace which will concern Arsenal in Ireland on Tuesday night as United thrashed Bray Wanderers in their final pre-season outing.

 

If he could become a regular goal-scorer, the former Ipswich favourite would give Souness' efforts a major boost.

 

"Kieron is an attacking midfielder - cum second striker - and he has to score more goals," added the Magpies boss of a player yet to contribute 10 goals during a single season in a black-and-white shirt.

 

"It is the obvious criticism of him that he hasn't scored enough goals and I want him to address that.

 

"Any club that is successful must have midfield players who weigh in with goals and it's a challenge for all of them - not just Kieron."

[Geordie Boyo 23]

I think him & Emre will be vital assets to us come Sunday. I know Shearer will be there to put them away but what I will be looking out for is seeing how Parker plays in that role against high quality opposition and how the defence copes too.